25 New Thriller Books with the best plot twists

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best psychological twist books

If you are looking for a suspenseful read with twist endings, look no further. This list contains the best thriller books of 2021 that will keep you up reading all night long.

After a long day, what is better than curling up with a great book? I know for me, nothing beats having a chilling mystery & thriller on my nightstand. 

But not every book is worth your time – so in this post, I’ll give you a list of the best new thriller books to read this year. With the thrill, the tension, and whodunits, these books will have you hooked from start to finish.

Most Popular Thrillers 2021

The Last Thing He Told Me book cover

The Last Thing He Told Me

by Laura Dave

Before Owen Michaels disappears, he manages to smuggle a note to his beloved wife of one year: Protect her. Despite her confusion and fear, Hannah Hall knows exactly to whom the note refers: Owen’s sixteen-year-old daughter, Bailey. Bailey, who lost her mother tragically as a child. Bailey, who wants absolutely nothing to do with her new stepmother…

Amazon | Goodreads

The Maidens book cover

The Maidens

by Alex Michaelides

Mariana Andros, a group therapist, becomes fixated on The Maidens, a secret society of female students, when one member, a friend of her niece’s, is found murdered in Cambridge. She is sure that professor Edward Fosca is a murderer, but he cannot be touched because of his popularity and charm. But when another body is found, Mariana is determined to stop Fosca, even if it costs her everything.

Amazon | Goodreads

The-Push book cover

The Push

by Ashley Audrain

This gripping, page-turning psychological drama explores the bond between mother and child. Blithe has always dreamed of being the caring mother she has missed, but she knows something is wrong with her daughter Violet, but her husband dismisses her fears. Then their son Sam is born—and with him, Blythe has the blissful connection she’d always imagined with her child. Even Violet seems to adore her little brother. But as their lives are turned upside down in a moment, Blythe is forced to confront the truth.

Amazon | Goodreads

Top Domestic Thrillers 2021

Rock Paper Scissors

Rock Paper Scissors

by Alice Feeney

Things have been wrong with Mr. and Mrs. Wright for a long time, so when they win a weekend trip to Scotland, it may be exactly what their relationship needs. But after ten years of marriage and years of secrets, this will be an anniversary they will never forget.

Amazon | Goodreads

The Wife Upstairs book cover

The Wife Upstairs

by Rachel Hawkins

When a broke dog walker finds an opportunity in the recently widowed and most mysterious resident in Thornfield Estates, Eddie, everything looks perfect. But, as they fall in love, Jane is haunted by the legend of Bea. 

Amazon | Goodreads | Read more…

If you’re looking for all the upcoming books, take a look at

Best 2024 Upcoming Releases

Not-A-Happy-FAmily book cover

Not A Happy Family

 by Shari Lapena

The Mertons are brutally murdered following a tense Easter dinner with their three adult children. They were never a happy family because of their vengeful father and neglectful mother, but one of the siblings may be more disturbed than anyone realized.

Amazon | Goodreads

Apples Never Fall book cover

Apples Never Fall

by Liane Moriarty

From Liane Moriarty comes a new novel about marriage, siblings, and how the people we love the most can hurt us the deepest.

Amazon | Goodreads

Debut Crime Novels 2021

Never Saw Me Coming book cover

Never Saw Me Coming

by Vera Kurian

With the sharp-edged wit of Gillian Flynn’s Gone Girl meets the smart, sexy voice of Caroline Kepnes’ You, Never Saw Me Coming is a dynamic debut thriller about a group of students diagnosed with psychopathy who are being hunted on campus, with explosive results.

Amazon | Goodreads

The Sanatorium book cover

The Sanatorium

by Sarah Pearse

When Elin’s estranged brother and his fiancée, Laure, invite her to celebrate their engagement at a hotel, where once was a sanatorium, she accepts. But when Laure is missing, Elin needs to trust her instincts to find her. 

Amazon | Goodreads | Read more…

Girl A book cover

Girl A

by Abigail Dean

Lex thought her family and her parents’ House of Horrors finally belong to the past now. But there are some things you can’t outrun in this new gripping story of alliances and betrayals of sibling relationships.

Amazon | Goodreads | Read more…

Psychological Thrillers 2021

Her Perfect Family

Her Perfect Family

by Teresa Driscoll

Rachel and Ed Hartley are looking forward to one of their family’s happiest days: their daughter’s graduation. But when Gemma stumbles and falls on stage during the ceremony, a beautiful moment becomes a nightmare: Gemma has been shot, and she’s battling for her life.

Amazon | Goodreads

The Good Sister book cover

The Good Sister

 by Sally Hepworth

Fern Castle works in her local library. She has dinner with her twin sister Rose three nights a week. And she avoids crowds, bright lights, and loud noises as much as possible. Fern has a carefully structured life and disrupting her routine can be…dangerous.

Amazon | Goodreads | Read more…

Lies We Bury book cover

Lies We Bury

 by Elle Marr

Marissa Mo escaped a basement prison two decades ago, the only home she’d ever known. Now 27 years old, she works as a freelance photographer under a new identity. But when she accepts a job covering a succession of gruesome killings in Portland, she can’t help but recall.

Good Neighbors book cover

Good Neighbors

 by Sarah Langan

Maple Street looks such a perfect, safe place until the Wilde family moves in and triggers their neighbors’ worst fears, in a riveting and ruthless portrayal of American suburbia. 

Amazon | Goodreads 

 
For-Your-Own-Good book cover

For Your Own Good

 by Samantha Downing

Teddy Crutcher is now Teacher of the Year at a prestigious boarding school for the best and brightest and apparently lives a happy life. His main goal is to help these kids reach their full academic potential, even if excellence comes at high costs and with a few losses.

The Woman Outside My Door book cover

The Woman Outside My Door

 by Rachel Ryan

Georgina assures herself that all children have imaginary friends, that it’s normal, and they’ll all get over it eventually. But when her seven-year-old son, Cody, tells her about New Granny, a new friend he has met in the park, something tells her he isn’t lying. But what if Cody’s imaginary friend is not so imaginary after all?

Crime Thrillers 2021

Before-She-Disappeared- uk book cover

Before She Disappeared

by Lisa Gardner

An ordinary woman starts digging to find the missing people the rest of the world has forgotten. But what if that means the next person to go missing will be her …

Amazon | Goodreads | Read more…

The-Turnout book cover

The Turnout

by Megan Abbott

Dara and Marie Durant have been dancers since they can remember. But, just as the school’s annual production of The Nutcracker begins, a strange accident occurs, an interloper arrives and threatens the sisters’ delicate equilibrium.
 

Amazon | Goodreads

Survive The Night

Survive The Night

by Riley Sager

November 1991. Charlie Jordan is in a car, sharing the long drive home to Ohio with a man who might be a serial killer and the only way to win is to survive the night..
 
The Night She Disappeared

The Night She Disappeared

by Lisa Jewell

A young woman and her boyfriend vanish on a beautiful summer night in a charming English suburb. One year later, a writer moves into a cottage and discovers a mysterious note that reads, “DIG HERE.”

Amazon | Goodreads 

Good as Dead

Good As Dead

by Susan Walter

Told in alternating points of view, the story brings together an unusual collection of characters linked by a crime, a cover-up, and compounded deceptions. But as those carefully crafted lives begin to disintegrate, how far will everyone be willing to go to bury the truth and protect those they care about?

Amazon | Goodreads | Read more…

Save for Later

psychological thriller books with a twist
Local Woman Missing book cover

Local Woman Missing

 by Mari Kubica

A riveting new thriller about one family, a quiet suburban neighborhood, and a twisted string of secrets.

Amazon | Goodreads

A-Slow-Fire-Burning book cover

A Slow Fire Burning

 by Paula Hawkins

When a young man is found gruesomely murdered in a London houseboat, three women, each with a different connection to the victim, and who are simmering with resentment for various reasons, are questioned.

Amazon | Goodreads

We-Were-Never-Here book cover

We Were Never Here

by Andrea Bartz

Emily is with her best friend, Kristen, on their annual reunion trip. But on the last night of the trip, Emily enters their hotel suite to find blood and broken glass on the floor. Kristen has been forced to kill a man in self-defense. But that’s not the first time.

Amazon | Goodreads

The Other Black Girl book cover

The Other Black Girl

by Zakiya Dalila Harris

Nella Rogers, a 26-year-old editing assistant, is frustrated with being the only Black employee, so when Harlem-born and bred Hazel starts working in the cubicle next to hers, she’s thrilled. When a string of uncomfortable events elevates Hazel to Office Darling, Nella is left in the dust. Then, threatening notes start showing up on Nella’s desk. But as Nella spirals and obsesses over the nefarious forces at work, she understands that there’s a lot more at stake than simply her job.

Amazon | Goodreads

Save for Later

psychological thriller books with the best plot twists

I hope you had fun exploring what in my opinion are the best thrillers worth reading this year and, hopefully, this list will be useful to plan your next most thrilling reading list.

Have Fun Reading!

Elisabeth sign.

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